Medicinal Cannabisin
Wisconsin

Posted by Gary
Storck
Revised: Thursday, December 29, 2005

Today, Wisconsin residents
with medical conditions that can be relieved or improved through the medicinal use of
cannabis must still break the law if they choose to use this therapy. But there
is hope. Rep. Gregg Underheim (R-Oshkosh), has reintroduced
medical marijuana legislation in the 2005-2006 session, AB-740. Underheim
earlier sponsored a bill in the 2003-2004 session. The 2003-2004 session bill was
introduced too late in the session to move out of committee. Rep. Underheim, who
chairs the Assembly Health Committee, attended the Third
National Conference of Cannabis Therapeutics presented by Patients out of
Time and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville Virginia, May 20-22,
2004. Watch this page for updates.

Madison NORML blog: Medical Marijuana in Wisconsin: Looking Back at 2005:
Part
One./ Part
Two

On April 10, 2001, the State Affairs Committee of the
Wisconsin Assembly, chaired by Rep. Rick Skindrud, (R-Mt. Horeb) held an
informational hearing at the State Capitol, and heard testimony from Wisconsin
patient Jacki Rickert, along with representatives of the State Medical Society,
Wisconsin Nurses Association, the Dane County Sheriff and Rep. Frank Boyle.

Currently, Rep.
Skindrud is contemplating introducing legislation in the Assembly, as are Reps.
Boyle and Pocan. Unfortunately, currently no state senators are willing to
co-sponsor legislation, meaning it may not be introduced this session.

After the Supreme
Court ruling, at least three major state newspapers editorialized in favor of
legal access to medicinal cannabis. Links to articles are below. The media and
state and federal representatives now recognize that this is an issue, and it is
now more important than ever for state residents to ask their elected
representatives to not only support efforts at the state level, but also at the
federal, where Barney Frank's States rights to medical marijuana bill has been
introduced, with 15 co-sponsors as of June 5, 2001, including Rep. Tammy Baldwin
(D-Madison), the only Wisconsin co-sponsor to date.

On March 17,
1999,
the Institute of Medicine report, Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base, was
released. On March 22, 1999, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel editorialized in favor of
favor of medicinal cannabis, stating "there is no legitimate
reason to object to the medical use of marijuana. If marijuana helps doctors make life
more bearable for people who are suffering, it would be unreasonable and cruel to deny
physicians -- and their patients -- this tool." Follow the link below to read
the entire editorial:

In June of 1999, the
Wisconsin Public Health Association passed a resolution at their annual meetings endorsing
prescriptive access to medicinal cannabis . The resolution, of which a draft copy can be
found at the link below, concludes: "that greater harm is
caused by the legal consequences of its prohibition than possible risks of medicinal use;
THEREFORE, WPHA urges the Governor of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Legislature to move
expeditiously to make cannabis available as a legal medicine where shown to be safe and
effective."

And on October 29, 1999,
the Wisconsin Nurse's Association adopted a similar measure, urging the Governor and the
Legislature to "move expeditiously to make cannabis available as a legally
prescribed medicine".

A number of Wisconsin
medicinal cannabis patients frustrated with the continuing prohibition of medicinal
cannabis at the federal level joined hundreds of other patients from all 50 states in a
class action lawsuit against the federal government that was filed in Philadelphia on July
3, 1998. The Action Class for Freedom of Therapeutic Cannabis suffered an unexpected blow
when the judge handling the case reversed himself and granted the government's motion for
a dismissal in a ruling dated December 1, 1999.

Despite this setback, there
were many victories for the side of compassion in 1999. In California, the U.S. Ninth
Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling supporting the medical necessity defense for
medical marijuana patients, although the Clinton Administration ultimately
appealed this to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled against the OCBC on May 14,
2001. In November 1999, voters in the state of Maine passed a medicinal
cannabis initiative by the margin of 61-39%. And in the Pacific Northwest, where medicinal
marijuana won big in 1998, the states of Oregon and Washington are adjusting nicely to
having this medicine legally accessible.

In the late 1970's, Wisconsin
and a number of other states took up the issue of medicinal cannabis. In 1979, two bills
were introduced, AB 107 and AB 279. Both bills authorized the establishment of therapeutic
programs to provide cannabis to patients. Both bills had hearings and made it to
committee.

On July 31, 1979, a
hearing was held on AB 279 at the State Capitol, and the late Robert Randall,
(who passed away June 2, 2001), testified in support of the bill. I recently
located a copy of an article about the hearing, found at the link below.

Wisconsin eventually passed
a medicinal cannabis law in 1981, L.B. 697, which passed the Assembly 77-19 and
the Senate 32-1. Gov. Lee Sherman Dreyfus signed the bill into law in April 1982, but it was written with the expectation that the federal
government would soon reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II or lower. As
that still has not happened nearly 20 years later, the law does little to protect
Wisconsin's medicinal cannabis patients.

Here is the section
regarding medical marijuana from the state statutes:

961.34
Controlled substances therapeutic research. Upon the request of any practitioner, the
controlled substances board shall aid the practitioner in applying for and processing an
investigational drug permit for marijuana under 21 USC 355 (i). If the federal food and
drug administration issues an investigational drug permit, the controlled substances board
shall approve which pharmacies can distribute the marijuana to patients upon written
prescription. Only pharmacies located within hospitals are eligible to receive the
marijuana for distribution. The controlled substances board shall also approve which
practitioners can write prescriptions for the marijuana.

In September 1997, the
Journey For Justice brought the issue to the state's heartland with a 210-mile wheelchair
journey from Mondovi to Madison to kick off the introduction of AB 560. Despite this
courageous trek by a number of severely afflicted patients, the Republican-controlled
legislature did not even give the bill a hearing.

STATE:
Wisconsin
BILL: A.B. 560*
INTENT: "[To] move THC from schedule I to schedule III ... [and] establish a medical
necessity defense to THC-related prosecutions,"
NOTES: a.) a patient must have a physician's written recommendation to use affirmative
defense b.) patient must not respond to conventional therapies c.) defense also covers
caregivers, possession, manufacture, and distribution

DPFWI is hopeful that
medicinal cannabis legislation will be introduced in the 2001-2002 legislative session.
As of this writing, there are at least two bills being drafted for introduction in
the new session that began in January of 2001, but neither has yet been formally
introduced. It is imperative that legislators
hear from constituents if the legislation is to be successful, so make sure your
views are heard. Links to contact information including email addresses can be found here.